Reviving an ancient poetic art in India

Qawwali is Sufi devotional and mystic poetry that promotes a tolerant form of Islam.

Senin, 20 Mar 2017 10:55 WIB

Qawwali singers at Fatehpur (Photo: Sikri Joshua)

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Qawwali is Sufi
devotional and mystic poetry that promotes a tolerant form of Islam.

Yet as rock and
Bollywood music have taken hold, many have forgotten about the ancient
tradition.

From Old Delhi, the
birthplace of the unique poetry, Asia Calling correspondent Naeem Sahoutara has
the story of on one group that is working to preserve the classical form.

It’s a humid Thursday
evening in historic Old Delhi.

Dozens of devotees are
here at the shrine of 12th century Muslim saint, Hazrat Nizamuddin
Auliya.

The narrow streets are
buzzing with vendors selling fresh rose petals and incense.

It’s here at the shrine
that a group of traditional mystic singers are preparing for tonight’s performance.

They start with the
Persian Islamic poem, Kun Faya Kun, written by the subcontinent’s famous poet,
Amir Khushrau.

Qawwali is a Sufi form
of devotional music that depicts a mystical and tolerant form of the Islam.

The Sufis preached about
humanity and their emphasis on treating everyone equally is the reason why
Muslims and non-Muslims visit their shrines.

And their poetry is
something like meditation, explains the lead singer, Tahir Ali.

“Qawwali has a
connection with the soul. It touches the heart of the listeners. Once it
touches their hearts the whole body feels it too. That’s why many people ask us
to sing Qawwali in Persian language. While many people don’t understand
Persian, they still enjoy the music.”

Followers of different
religions flock to this place every week, seeking fulfilment of their wishes.
Some from as far as Europe and America.

For Qawwali singers,
performing at this shrine is like a dream come true.

Singer Tahir Ali and his
two brothers are visiting from Pakistan.

“Although Qawwali had
long been sung even from the times of the Prophet Muhammad. At that time the
style was different. It was sung with Duff, a Persian frame drum, only,”
explains Ali.

“After that the saint
Nizamuddin Auliya and his disciple Amir Khusrau took Qawwali to its peak. So,
this place is the birthplace of Qawwali.”

Khusrau is known as the
“Parrot of the subcontinent” because of his great and melodious poetry.

And his addition of
music to the mystic poetry has immortalized the form, says the shrine’s
caretaker Syed Nizam Ali Nizami.

“Hazrat Amir Khusrau
invented different musical instruments like the sitar (guitar-like three
strings instrument) and tabla drum. His master Nizamuddin Auliya once asked
Khusrau to develop a common language that people from different religions could
speak and understand. So, he invented the Urdu language by including words of
various languages including Arabic and Persian. Today, this language is largely
spoken,” Ali Nizami says.

Over the centuries the
mystic music has also made its way into the film industry of India, Pakistan
and other regional countries.

But shrine caretaker
Nizam Ali Nizami, who is a descendent of the saint, says the classical Qawwali
is not often heard today.

“To be fair, whatever
you are listening to these days is not original qawwali. Before the singers
used to sing the poetry of mystic poets. Today, some of it could turn listeners
into infidels,” Ali Nizami says.

As modern generations
lose touch with the origins of the form, and rock, pop, and Bollywood music
take over, one group in India is pushing to revive classical Qawwali.

“It was getting
diminished, it did not vanish altogether because otherwise we wouldn’t have
been able to retrieve it. So, it was getting diminished and what we’re trying
to do, is to promote it,” explains Ditti Ray, the program officer for the Agha
Khan Trust for Culture, or the AKTC.

As part of a Qawwali
revival project, Ditti and her team have been documenting different forms of
Qawwali.

“There are quite a few
groups and there are only two groups still staying at the Nizamuddin Basti and
three or four groups have shifted to the old Delhi area, says Ditti Ray.

“So, they are still
considered to be the custodians of the traditional music of the Dargah shrine
and they sing a lot of Hazrat Amir Khusrau poetry.”

And the team is also
exploring outside Delhi.

“So, we have documented
in three different genres of music like Qawwali, classical and folk. In all
these three genres, whosoever was singing, whatever style of Hazrat Amir
Khusrau’s rapporteur, we tried to document them from far off places like
Jaipur, Agra, Punjab, Kashmir and we did a lot of shows with the international
performers, especially from Pakistan,” Ditti Ray says.

As part of the
initiative, a dedicated website has also been launched, where the entire works
of poet Amir Khusrau are available in the voice of famous singers.

Leading Bollywood star,
singer Chand Nizam, is doing his part too, by helping to train young singers in
classical Qawwali.

From a small family
house adjacent to the shrine, his Sikandriya family, he says, has been
performing for the last 700 years.

From the birthplace of
Qawwali, Chand now has the opportunity to share his knowledge with young people
who want to continue the tradition.